Nimish B. Vakil, MD, FACG
on his father Bhupendra J. Vakil, MD, FACG

I decided to become a gastroenterologist at the age of 7 or 8 and I never really considered anything else. My father wanted me to consider other professions, but I really did not care for anything else. My father was very busy and spent long days at the hospital, but the stories of what he did were fascinating. Endsocopy was just coming into its own in India when I was a child and I found the anecdotes about bleeding ulcers and others that could be solved endoscopically fascinating.

My father was interested in peptic ulcer disease and diet and explored the relationship between spices in food and ulcer disease. Perhaps, that is the reason why our food at home was devoid of the potent spices that are usually found in Indian food. It was fascinating to have visitors from all over the world visit us. I frequently wound up taking the visitors around the city and to the Elephanta ancient caves, a short boat ride away from the main city of Bombay (now Mumbai).

I remember accompanying my father on rounds and the most clear memory I have was being impressed at age 3 or 4 by a liveried man who rang a big brass bell twice when the consultant gastroenterologist arrived to let the staff know. The most famous visitor I remember meeting as a child was Sir Francis Avery Jones, one of the fathers of modern gastroenterology who was my father's boss at the Middlesex Hospital in London. We had been sent to bed so as not to disturb the adults, but the famous visitor insisted on shaking hands with the boys. We were brought to see him and he shook hands with my brother and me and slipped us each the princely sum of 5 pounds while whispering, "Don't tell your Dad".

What I like most about gastroenterology is that we are intellectuals in research, but when it comes to endoscopy, we are workmen. My father taught